The Weight of Heaven
Frank and Ellie Benton loose their only child, a seven-year-old boy to a rare illness before the opening pages of the book. The Weight of Heaven is their lives lived with an attempt to survive that death-and are fearful that maybe that was the only thing uniting them. Frank and Ellie had been married for 11 years before the birth of their son Benny, but now that seemed like another life ago.
Amongst their pain and grief Ellie nudges Frank to take what she sees as a shot at saving their relationship, a move to India where Frank's boss has asked him to head up the local office. Will they have changed just enough to no longer be able to cope or work as a team in a strange environment? They have alienated themselves-even from each other, could this be the chance to have to face their pain united?
None of us know really how we'd deal with such a loss, at least not until we have suffered it and know from the inner strength (or lack of it) what we can live with. Thrity Umrigar does an amazing job of capturing the feelings of alienation, even from a spouse who has undergone the same loss, the blame that humans place on each other, and the enormous pressure from the hamster wheel of life to keep going no matter how bad you hurt. The Weight of Heaven feels so real, so true that I had to remind myself that it is fiction- when that is the case I know the author has gone to great trouble to know the details, to understand the whole environment of loss, and I was really blown away by her thoughtfulness with this tender subject.
To me the writing was amazing-brilliant actually, I was right there with her from page one and didn't need to work at all to get emotionally involved in the book. I believe that Thrity Umrigar is a master at what she does and have heard nothing but good about her previous books as well, so I am off to spend some Powell's dough on one of her others, maybe The Space Between Us which I have heard bookies rave about for a while now. I now know what is so attractive about her novels, they bear the weight of their subject matter and lead the reader by the hand to grasp difficult pain but also they show cultures, life, joy and most importantly our cultural blind spots. I will read Thrity Umrigar again, I have no doubt and I am thankful I was introduced to yet another of the few modern novelists who work their words like art in form of ink and letters. I highly recommend this read, very highly. Grab it up!!!
Thrity Umrigar's website: http://www.umrigar.com/
- Title: The Weight of Heaven
- ISBN: 9780061472541
- Publisher: Harper
- Author: Thrity Umrigar
- Subject: fiction
- Pages: 384
- Copyright: 2009
- Publication Date: April 2009
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The God of Small Things
The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy
322 Pages
Winner of the Booker Prize
Fiction
Set in India, where fate journeys amongst a family, and a set of twins. Roy using poetry-like prose takes the reader to a place of mystery and magic, superstition and pain. The storyline is not straightforward, but weaves and hops and jumps around complicating the impact of its plot. Good, okay...but nothing near great.
My take on this? I didn't like it. I wanted to, I like liking international fiction but this was too dark, to sad, too much to handle. Not even that much bad happened in the book, but nothing good ever did take place.
I can see that her writing is amazing, but Roy seems to go too far to show that she can write at the expense of plot and depth of character. It is not personable at all. I didn't connect to a single character. I think Roy should write poetry instead. I wish I had a better review to give. This is an award winning book, but I don't really see how.
Sorry guys!
Give me your thoughts, did you like it? When did you read it? Did you feel you connected with the characters and followed the plot? I had to do so much re-reading because either my mind would wander, or I would just not understand what was going on....not a book for me.
Inhearitance of Loss
Title: Inheritance of Loss
Author: Kiran Desai
Pages: 357
Yearly Count: 60
Awards: Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2006
I have been searching for this book and didn't even know it was this book I searched for. I wanted a book of daily details, of life of the people of India, a book that would be not so much filled with Indians who live outside of India, but of those who are there. I know this is a novel, and that it is not fact. I also know that I fell in love with the small details of India, the way tea is prepared, the way the pastries and food are rambled about, the words used to display affection, desire, and hate. I loved the storytelling qualities of Desai, working little every day Indian details and descriptions up into a stunning form of art. I was interested in the story, the plot, the characters and in a dream-like way immersed in a culture so far away.
The Inheritance of Loss is a book that follows several different people, their thoughts and dreams laid bare to the reader, they are vulnerable and real. The silliness of the wealthy is shown, placed in obvious display of ridicule...which I found endearing, and at the same time sad in many ways. Desai filled her novel with current (when it was written) details, of uprisings, protests, violence and how the general joe lives. I haven't found a better glimpse into the society of India.
I have read several books about India, or mostly about Indians, I have read Interpreter of Maladies, The Namesake, Karma and Other Stories by Rishi Reddi I am not sure this is my favourite, because I really did like The Interpreter of Maladies, but it is about equal with that read for me. I enjoyed it because it was different, a deeper portrayal, a darker glimpse, and one of those who stayed in India. It filled in answers, explained rivalries, and political issues...I really did enjoy it. I will say that sometimes I found it a little hard to follow, or at times slow. It is certainly worth a read though :) enjoy.
Other blogger reviews:
Wendy at Caribou's Mom
Gentle Reader at Shelf Life
Have you reviewed this too??? Let me know and I will link to you :)
The Septembers of Shiraz
Title: The Septembers of Shiraz
Author: Dalia Sofer
Pages: 338
Yearly Count: 47
I have already told you that I am Iran obsessed, right? Not just Iran, but also Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka...well, maybe just internationally obsessed. But this is the 4 book I have read from/ about Iran this year! I can't get enough, just can't. Okay on to the book!
After the Iranian revolution, the jewel dealer Isaac Amin is taken, arrested and does not know why other than that he is a Jew, with a family connection to Israel. Even though it would seems so, this is not a book of simply a prisoner wrongly accused. Isaac narrates some chapters and the others are narrated by the other members of his family, his wife, his young daughter and his son who is trying to make it in America. I felt that the interweaving of the different voices really made the novel. It broke up the prison scenes and showed life at the same time.
This was a great one. I loved reading it, and I loved thinking about the life of the people who lived in it. The writing is excellent, and I enjoyed the style as well. I have read that other bloggers thought the book emotionless, as if all the book were told in the same tone. I do not agree, I actually relied on the steady words of the narrators, on the calm tone of the pages. I felt that it was a voice of hope, that life will go on, things will change and suffering will be had, and yet there is a steady part in it all, a resiliency. I loved the voice of this novel.
I highly recommend The Septembers of Shiraz, uber-powerful book of resiliency in the midst of insanity. I wouldn't be surprised it something big happens with this one (ie a prize, a movie deal....you know something cool). enjoy.
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